Cuccoliana - Tenth Anniversary

Every Thursday from June 25 to September 10, 2026, the Cortile d'Onore of Palazzo d'Accursio hosts Cuccoliana, the summer festival by Burattini a Bologna, which this year celebrates its tenth anniversary.

This summer, through a series of ever-changing performances, the festival pays tribute to the father of all Bolognese puppeteers, Filippo Cuccoli, marking the 220th anniversary of his birth.

The shows will feature two characters closely associated with him: Sandrone (of Modenese origin) and the Bolognese Balanzone.

The centenary of Wolfango Peretti Poggi will also be celebrated starting from the opening evenings.

The festival is part of the programme of Wolfango 100 – 100 Wolfango.

Programme:

• Thursday, June 25, 8:30 PM
  The Great Variety Show of Wooden Heads
  Opening night with free admission.
  The puppet of Wolfango and Alighiera Peretti Poggi, patron of the festival, will be present.

• Thursday, July 2, 8:30 PM
  Long Live Bertoldo!
  Storytelling performance featuring Roberto Serra Bertén “al profesåur ed bulgnaiṡ”.

• Thursday, July 9, 8:30 PM
  Tribute to Cuccoli
  With Fagiolino and Sganapino in Papal Bologna.

• Thursday, July 16, 8:30 PM
  Forgetful Fairy
  With a crazy and wandering Sganapino searching for fortune.

• Thursday, July 23, 8:30 PM
  The Foundation of the Asinelli Tower
  With Fagiolino as a desperate father and Sganapino as an unlikely engineer.

• Thursday, July 30, 8:30 PM
  Sandrone, King of the Fools
  Evening dedicated to the memory of Romano Danielli.

• Thursday, August 6, 8:30 PM
  Sganapino the Enchanted Waiter
  With faithful friend Fagiolino and Tebaldo and Brighella as conspirators.

• Thursday, August 13, 8:30 PM
  The Room Rented to Two
  With Sganapino and Desdemona, Fagiolino and Minghina.

• Thursday, August 20, 8:30 PM
  Roman Manners
  With Fagiolino engaged and Balanzone tricked by a fish.

• Thursday, August 27, 8:30 PM
  Balanzone in Love
  With Brighella as a solemn trickster and Fagiolino and Sganapino as accidental witnesses.

• Thursday, September 3, 8:30 PM
  Cardinal Lambertini
  By popular demand, Alfredo Testoni’s classic returns in puppet-theatre form.

• Thursday, September 10, 8:30 PM
  Fagiolino and Sganapino Puppeteers
  A metaphysical comedy with Isabella and Desdemona, puppeteers in waiting.
  Featuring the Witch of the Spipola Cave and Giorgio Comaschi as narrator.